Kolkata, Sep 14 (UNI) The second meeting between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the protesting junior doctors failed to take off on Saturday evening following a dispute over a videography of the proceeding by the medics, as the government did not allow the same, official sources said.
This was the second such proposed meeting that failed to take off as it happened on Thursday at Nabanna over the live streaming, which was wanted by the junior medics.
This time the medics gave up the live streaming and stuck to their one-point demand to allow them to do videography of the proceeding of the meeting.
Ms Banerjee said due to security reasons, the government could not allow them to do videography but the authorities would do so and hand them over after the case in the Supreme Court was over.
Ms Banerjee with folded hands came out and requested the medics to come inside her house and start discussion for the welfare of the people and shun politics.
She said since the matter is sub-judice, the videography was not allowed to go in public.
"I assured you that we will give you the minutes of the meeting and the recording of the videography to be done by the government would be handed over to them once the Supreme Court hearing was over," she said and explained that the videography to be done on behalf of the medics could not be allowed.
When the medics replied that the videography to be done by them would not be distributed but the same would be kept for record for their colleagues, Ms Banerjee said she wanted the disputes to be settled at the earliest and for that, she went to the Salt Lake to request them to come to the negotiating table.
She said she was badly insulted by the doctors' stance for not even entering her home for a cup of tea if not they were not ready for talks.
The Chief Minister said she waited over two hours for the meeting with doctors and requested the delegation not to get drenched outside her home at 30/B Harish Chatterjee Street in south Kolkata.
"We had invited 15 members only, but you are 40 and is it possible for a house to accomodate so many but still, we have done arrangement for their seating," she said.
The medics also with folded hands told the CM that they were not here to discuss the subject of the apex court, they were here to discuss their five-point demands.
Their demands include disciplinary action against the city police commissioner, two deputy commissioners of north and central Kolkata, health secretary and his two deputies, and ensure safety and security at the government hospitals where they work.
They said they were answerable to their colleagues, who were on protest at Swastha Bhaban for the past five days as their cease work at the OPD entered 37th day since August nine, when the 31-year-old medic was raped and murdered at the R G Kar hospital where she was a resident doctor.
Then the CM went inside her home and her junior Health minister Chandrika Bhattacharya, chief secretary Manoj Pant, DGP Rajiv Kumar and some other government officials departed one after another.
The medics were still outside the Chief Minister's residence and discussing amongst themselves in the rain to return to Salt Lake where their other colleagues were on protest since Tuesday, after over two and half hours.
Earlier in the day, the CM invited the protesting junior doctors to come to her Kalighat residence for a meeting at 1800 hours to iron out the deadlock of the government hospitals where the medics ceased work from August nine.
State chief secretary Manoj Pant in an email invited 15 junior doctors to attend a meeting with the CM at her Kalighat residence in south Kolkata at 1800 hrs.
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